Happy Friday, MarketWatchers! Let today’s top personal finance stories take you into the weekend.

The $100,000 question you should be asking your real estate agent

Be very careful where you wire the deposit on your new home

Did you get a pay raise in 2018? This explains why you still feel broke

Latest findings by PayScale on wages run counter to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Why are Republican baby boomers more likely to share fake news on Facebook?

Most Facebook users who shared the fake stories during the 2016 U.S. presidential election were Republicans over the age of 65, new research suggests.

MacKenzie Bezos could bank $7.4 million for every day she was married to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos

The future ex-wife of the Amazon is set to become the richest woman in history, surpassing Oprah and the Queen of England.

I earn $15 an hour and will inherit $150,000 — how do I secure my financial future?

This woman has never been to college, rents and says this is the one chance to improve her circumstances.

More research says Facebook can cause depression, this time among millennials

The findings are published in the latest edition of the Journal of Applied Biobehavioural Research.

His wife surprised him with $220,000 in student loans — here’s how they tackled $480,000 in debt

This happily married dad felt like an ‘economic slave’ after financial revelations by his wife. Their first move? An Excel spreadsheet.

A new nightmare for furloughed workers — preventing damage to their credit scores

The stakes are high for some federal employees during the government shutdown, especially those grappling with loans.

It makes more sense to rent than buy, but only if you live here

Nearly two-thirds of Americans live in areas where it is more affordable to rent than buy.

Philly residents were determined to defy the city’s controversial ‘soda tax’ — and they did

Calories cut by the city’s ‘big brother’ tax on sugary drinks? Not a lot.

Elsewhere on MarketWatch

Trump Today: President says Congress can name border wall ‘peaches’ as he backs away from quick emergency declaration

President Donald Trump said Friday he’s not planning on declaring a national emergency over border security immediately, and urged lawmakers to negotiate with him as the partial government shutdown tied for the longest on record.

Newcomers? Congress is still all about longtimers — of which there are more Democrats than Republicans

The new Congress that kicked off this month features plenty of firsts and newcomers, but it also isn’t short on lawmakers who have spent decades on the job. Democrats in the House and Senate show longer tenures on average.

The government shutdown is set to become the longest on record, assuming it’s still going at midnight

At 21 days in length as of Friday, the current partial government shutdown has become one for the record books.

For the Senate’s only black Republican, there’s little reason to ask why some in the GOP get accused of racism. It’s the party’s silence when things like Rep. Steve King’s “white supremacist” comments are said, Sen. Tim Scott writes in the Washington Post.

Death of a talking point: Real wages are growing the most in two years

One lingering chink in the current economic environment had been that wages actually weren’t growing when adjusted for inflation. On a variety of measures, that’s just not true anymore.

Trump’s national emergency threat shows he’s up against the wall in border fight

President Trump doesn’t have enough congressional votes to fund a border wall — and American democracy is the big loser, writes Chris Edelson.

3 outside-the-box alternatives for home buyers in a tough housing market

For less typical ways to beat the housing shortage, look at manufactured homes, community land trusts and fixer uppers.

Get a daily roundup of the top reads in personal finance delivered to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch’s free Personal Finance Daily newsletter. Sign up here.